Outdoor recreation is a $700 billion slice of the U.S. economy. The latest federal numbers, and what they mean in Colorado

Every year the federal government publishes a number that surprises people who think of hiking, fishing and skiing as hobbies rather than industries. In its latest release, published in March 2026 and covering 2024, the Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated that the outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.4% of U.S. gross domestic product, or $696.7 billion in current-dollar value added. The share was unchanged from 2023.

The figures come from BEA’s Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account, a set of statistics that pulls outdoor activity out of the broader national accounts so it can be measured as a sector. Here is what the 2024 numbers show, what they include, and how they look from Colorado, where the outdoor economy is part of daily life.

The headline numbers

According to BEA’s release:

• Growth slowed. Inflation-adjusted, or real, GDP for the outdoor recreation economy rose 2.7% in 2024. That was a little below the 2.8% growth of the U.S. economy as a whole, and well below the 5.3% outdoor recreation recorded in 2023.
• Output grew more slowly than value added. Real gross output, a broader measure that includes the inputs businesses buy from one another, rose 2.0%.
• Pay rose faster than jobs. Outdoor recreation compensation increased 5.2%, while employment increased 1.1%.

Industry groups that analyze the data, including the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable and the RV Industry Association, put the sector’s gross output at about $1.3 trillion and its employment at about 5.2 million jobs, roughly 3.2% of U.S. employment. Those are the figures most often quoted in advocacy materials. Readers comparing years should make sure they are comparing the same measure, because value added, gross output and employment tell different stories.

For context, BEA’s earlier releases put the sector at 2.3% of GDP in 2023, measured at the time, and 2.2% in 2022. The account is revised as new data arrives, so older shares can shift.

What counts as outdoor recreation

The account is broader than most people assume. BEA divides the sector into three groups:

• Conventional activities, such as boating and fishing, RVing, hunting, climbing, cycling, hiking and camping.
• Other core activities, including outdoor festivals, sports played outdoors, and amusement parks and water parks.
• Supporting activities, such as travel and tourism to reach outdoor destinations, local trips, government spending on parks and public lands, and construction.

That third group matters. A large share of outdoor recreation’s economic footprint is the gas, food and lodging that people buy to get to the trailhead or the lake. When gateway towns argue that public lands are an economic engine, this is the spending they mean.

Among conventional activities, RVing was the second-largest nationally in 2024, at $27.5 billion in current-dollar value added, according to BEA. Boating and fishing have led the category in recent editions of the account.

Why growth slowed

BEA’s release reports the numbers rather than explaining them, so any interpretation should be read as such. The 2023 figure reflected a strong post-pandemic run in travel and recreation spending, and 2024 growth closer to the overall economy’s pace suggests that surge has leveled off. The combination of modest employment growth and faster compensation growth is consistent with a labor market where outdoor businesses are paying more to hire and keep workers.

The Colorado picture

BEA publishes state-level tables alongside the national figures, and outdoor groups in Colorado have been quick to read them. Pikes Peak Outdoors, a regional outdoor recreation organization, reports that Colorado’s outdoor economy grew 2% in 2024 over 2023 and that snow activities, which include skiing and snowboarding, generated $1.6 billion in value added. The group also cites $18.1 billion in economic output for the state’s outdoor recreation sector.

Readers should be careful with comparisons. Some summaries express Colorado’s figure as a share of state GDP using gross output, which is not comparable with the national 2.4% value-added share. Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group, maintains state-by-state comparisons built from the BEA tables for anyone who wants like-for-like numbers.

Whatever the measure, outdoor recreation is a major employer in Colorado’s mountain counties, where ski areas, guides, outfitters, lodging and restaurants make up a large part of the local economy. That is why policy decisions that seem far away, such as federal land management budgets, park entrance fees, wildlife management and snowpack, show up quickly in those towns’ cash flow.

What the data is useful for

The satellite account is most useful as a measure of scale and trend. It does not tell a business owner whether a particular trail or river will draw more visitors next year. It does give local governments, lenders and investors a consistent federal estimate of how large the sector is and whether it is growing.

• For outdoor businesses, the compensation figures support what many owners already report: hiring costs are rising faster than headcount.
• For local officials, the supporting-activities category is the strongest evidence that recreation spending reaches far beyond gear shops.
• For anyone citing the numbers, name the measure. Value added, gross output and jobs are all legitimate, but they are not interchangeable.

BEA has not announced the date of its next release, which will cover 2025. Past editions have arrived in the fall or in early spring. The agency’s outdoor recreation page lists the current tables and methodology.